Skiving machine



May 13, 1941.

J. F. REMINGTON SKIVING MACHINE Filed April 17, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVETOR. Joszpn E Pen/Nara.

BY 5 Z 3, 1- J. F. REMINGTON 2,241,478

" SKIVING MACHINE l Filed April 17, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fII/IIIIIII Patented May 13, 1941 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE smvnqc MACHINE Joseph F. Remington, Akron, Ohio Application April 17, 1940, Serial No. 330,082 2' i (or. s9 1) 14 Claims.

This invention relates to skiving machines,

and in particular relates to apparatus for making skived pieces, such as footwear inserts, from spongerubber, rubber, cork, leather, or like material. An object of the invention is to provide a simple, efficient machine for making skived pieces for footwear inserts, or the like, from sponge rubber or similar materials, at a minimum cost of production.

Another object of the invention is to provide a skiving machine having improved means for effectively retaining the material to be 'skived in centered position for the'skiving operation, whereby the finished skived pieces will have sub: stantially uniformly feathered edges.

A further object of the invention is to provide a skiving machine of the character described which requires relatively little skill to operate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a skiving machine of the character described in which the blanks from which the skived pieces are made may be fed into the machine, and the finished pieces removed therefrom in substantially rapid succession.

These and other objects of the invention will be manifest from the following brief description and the accompanying drawings. This application is a continuation in part of co-pending application, Serial No. 293,233, filed September 2, 1939.

Of the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view, partly broken awa,

V of the apparatus embodying the invention.

'Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof, partly broken away.

Figure 3 is a cross-section taken substantially on line 33 of Figure 1, butwith a piece of material positioned on the matrix for a skiving operation.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, illustrating the cutter performing the skiving operation on a strip of material.

Figure 5 is a cross-section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 2, illustrating the cam mechanism for operating the strip-centering or positioning guide means.

Figure 6 is a detail plan View of the stripholding matrix with the strip of material to be skived positioned'thereon.

Figure '7 is a View similar to Figure 6, but with the strip drawn into the matrix cavity by means of suction for the skiving operation.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure '7, subsequent to the skiving operation.

I 3 having an integral, horizontally extending arm- M;- Support I3 is vertically adjustable on shaft l2 by means of a set screw I2 threaded through a cap I3 secured on the top of support l3, the-cap screw i2 which carries the holder being supported on the top of shaft 12 through a ball-bearing [2 the arrangement beingsuch-that by-turning the cap screw I2 in the cap 13*; the holder l3 and the members carried thereby mayberaised 'or lowered. This vertically adjusts the position of a rotary disc knife [6 fixed on the end of a vertical shaft ll, which is journalled in a bearing 18 adjustably secured on the free end of arm M. A pin l9 fixed in plate ll may have an adjustable screw 20 threaded therein for engaging a bracket 2| on support l3,-to limit forward swinging movement of said support, as-shown in chain-dotted lines inFigure 1.; t

For guarding the machine operator against accidental injury by knife 16, a disc 22, secured to bearing l8, may have an annular flange 23 extending downwardly to a point sligthly above the cutting plane of knife l6,-sufficient clearance being allowed to permit a strip of material from which'pieces have been skived to pass under the guard 22.

The knife i6 is rotated at a high speed by means of a pulley 24 on shaft I1, driven by a belt 25 engaging a pulley 260i an electric motor 27 mounted on bracket 2| of support l3.

A work-holding device, indicated generally at 28, may be mounted on plate I [in front of knife It in the path of the swinging movement thereof. This work-holding device may comprise a block 2 9 having a cavity 30 therein, and a matrix plate 3| secured tothe top face of the block, as by means of screws 32. As best shown in Figure 1, the top face of the matrix 3| may have a plurality of closely arranged cavities 33, 33, therein, these .cavities being substantially the shape or depth of the skived pieces to be formed therein, as will be described. When the skived pieces are substantially circular in shape, asshown in the drawings, the cavities 33 may be arranged in rows in staggered relation '(see'Figure 1). By means of the adjusting screw i2 on holder l3, the vertical position of the knife it may be adjusted so that the bottom face thereof will be in substantially the same plane with the top face of the matrix 3|, as desired, for cutting or skiving a strip of material positioned on the matrix.

The material to be skived may be preformed in strips S of such shape and size to slightly more than cover all of the cavities on matrix 3|, these strips being slightly thicker than the depth of the cavity. The strips S are drawn into conformity with the cavities 33, by means of suction applied to the under side of the strips through openings 35, 35, in the cavities 33, communicating with the suction chamber 36 in block 29, the chamber 30 being connected through a conduit 36 to a suitable constant source of suction (not shown).

Fixed on the bracket 2| carried by the pivoted holder I3, may be an arcuate plate or cam 21 for engaging a trigger 36*- of a valve 36' in the conduit 36, the arrangement being such that, during the initial swinging movement of the holder to move knife l6 toward matrix 3|, valve 35 is actuated to apply suction chamber 30 to draw a valve 36 is closed by action of cam 2W, thereby cutting off chamber 30 from the constant source of suction (not shown), to release the suction from skived pieces formed in cavities 33 by the cutting stroke.

To aid the machine operator in positioning the strips S so' that all of the cavities 33 in the matrix will be covered, there may be provided a series of pins 31, 31, fixed on a vertically shiftable plate 38 within the suction chamber 30, these pins being vertically slidable through openings 39, 39, in matrix 3i, and the plate 38 being supported on a stem 40, V vertically slidable in an opening 4| through the block 29. For vertically shifting the pins 3?, a collar 42' may be adjustably threaded on the lower end of stem 40 extending through an opening in plate collar 42 having an annular groove 13 therein engageable by a yoke 44 on an arm 45, pivoted at 46 to the underside of the supporting plate Fixed on the other end of arm 45, may be a bar 41, which extends upwardly through a guide opening'48 in plate II, a roller 49 being mounted on the upper end of said bar for engaging the under and upper sides, respectively, of a pair of cooperatively arranged forward and rear cam-blocks 50 and 53*. A pair of brackets 41, 47 are fixed on plate II to prevent lateral movement of bar 41. Figure shows the cam mechanism in an intermediate position, with the roller 49 about to pass from one cam to another upon pivoting holder I3. In the inoperative position of knives lfi, as best shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 6, the pins 31 project upwardly of the top face of matrix 3|, to engage angularly adjacent edge portions of the strips S, to center the same over the cavities 33 of the matrix 3|. The arrangement is such that upon swinging the support [3 on shaft l2, either manually by means of a handle 5| fixed on bearing I8, or by motordriven means (not shown), to move the cutter I6 toward the matrix 3|, roller 49 will pass from the underside of forward cam 50, through the position shown in Figure 5, to the upper side of rear cam 50*. This movement of the roller will swing arm 45 on pivot 45 in a direction to move stem 40 downwardly, thereby withdrawing pins 31 from above the top surface of matrix 3| before the knife passes over it.

After each cutting operation, valve 36* is automatically closed by action of cam Zi as the knife Hz is moved rearwardly, thereby cutting ofi chamber 30 from the suction supply. The suction in chamber 30 must be released, however, to permit easy removal of the skived pieces P from the matrix cavities 33, the skived pieces preventing air from entering the chamber through the openings 35 in the matrix. For this purpose the top end of stem 40 may be enlarged at 52, for slidably but snugly fitting in a counterbore 53 in block 29 when plate 38, carrying pins 31 is in lowered position. The stem 40 has a bore 54 therein opening to the atmosphere at the lower end thereof, Vent holes 55', 55 in the stem communicating said bore with chamber 30 to evacuate the chamber when the stem is in raised position, and said vent holes being closed off in bore 4| of said block 29 in the lowered position of the plate. Evacuation of chamber 30 releases the finished skived pieces held in cavities 33 by suction.

As shown in Figure 4, scrap material S (see Figures 8 and 9) from the cutting operation is prevented from becoming clogged between the knife l6 and the guard 22 thereof by providing an opening 56 in the guard, through which the scrap strips S are guided by an arcuate guide plate 51 secured to guard 22. This guide plate may be curved upwardly from adjacent the forward edge of the knife to guide the scrap S upwardly of the knife where it may easily be disposed of.

It is the practice to lubricate the strips S by soaking them in water to facilitate cutting the same. A plurality of upwardly extending ribs 58, 58 may be provided on the surface of the guide plate 51, to prevent the wet strips S from sticking thereto.

It is desirable that the rotary knife l6 should be very thin to prevent breaking the suction which holds the blanks S in the cavities of matrix 3| during the skiving operations. For this reason, the knife I6 cannot be counter-sunk for receiving flat-headed screws, to secure the knife to shaft I1. To obviate this difiiculty, the knife H5 is secured to the end of shaft by means of a cap screw l'i having a relatively thin head, clearance between the head of the screw and the top face of matrix 3| being accomplished by tilting the knife at a relatively slight angle to the horizontal. The latter adjustment may be made by tilting the bearing |8 on arm M, by means of a screw I4 for clamping the split end of arm about a spindle |3 on the bearing l8.

In the operation of the apparatus for cutting skived pieces P from preshaped strips S, the motor 2'! is continuously driven to rotate the shaft carrying the disc-knife I6. The machine-operator, stationed in front of the machine positions a strip S on the matrix 3|, with angularly adjacent edge portions thereof engaging the pins 37 which project upwardly from the top face of matrix 3| when the knife I6 is in its rearward stop position, shown in Figure 1, the strip S thereby being centered to cover all of the cavities 33 in the matrix, as shown in Figure 6. This strip-positioning operation may be performed by the operator using one hand, while the other hand is retained on the operating handle 5|.

Substantially simultaneously with the positioning of strips S on the matrix, the operator,

by means of handle swings the support it on by opening the suction-supply line 36 to the suction chamber 38 in block 29, to draw the strips S into the cavities 33 of the matrix, as shown in Figures 4 and '7. Almost simultaneously with this action, and before the leading edge of knife l6 engages the top face of the matrix 35, the roller 49 is engaged by the cam 58 to swing the arm 45 on pivot 48. This moves the stem 4 downwardly to withdraw the pins 3! on plate 38, beneath the top surface of the matrix, permitting the knife E6 to engage the top surf-ace of the matrix (see Figure 4) for shearing the portions of the strips S projecting above said top surface, and thereby producing a plurality of skived pieces P, as shown in Figures 8 and 11.

When the full cutting stroke of the knife l6 has been performed, as indicated in chain-dotted lines in Figure l, the knife is swung rearwardly away from the matrix M. During the initial rearward movement of the knife, the cam plate Zi moves into engagement with the trigger 36 to close the suction valve thereby breaking communication between suction chamber 39 and the constant source of suction. With this same initial rearward movement of knife i5, the roller 49 is engaged by the cams 56 on support l3 to swing the arm t5 in a direction to urge the pin upwardly to project the pins 31 above the top surface of the matrix, at the same time com.- municating chamber 30 with the bore in the stem, through vents 55, permitting air to enter said chamber and thereby releasing the suction therein. This breaks the suction holding the skived pieces P in the cavities 33 of the matrix, whereby they are readily removable by a forward stroke of the hand, and the apparatus is ready for another cutting operation. The inherent tendency of the skived pieces to resume normal shape causes them to become convex on top and flat on the bottom, which characteristic l facilitates quick removal of all of the pieces from the matrix with one sweep of the hand. One of the finished pieces P is shown in Figure 11, while the scrap S from which the finished pieces P have been skived, is shown in Figures 9 and 10.

Thus has been. provided a substantially automatic machine for effectively and economically producing skived pieces for the purposes described, the articles so produced having uniformly skived edges. Although the present apparatus is capable of greatly increased production, it may be operated by substantially unskilled labor, the strips S being placed in the machine and cut into skived pieces in quick succession with very little effort on the part of the operator.

Modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, suction means connected to said matrix and operable to hold a blank in fixed relation thereon, a cutter relatively movable toward and from said matrix to skive a blank positioned thereon, and means operable by movement of said cutter toward said matrix for actuating said suction means to hold the blank on the matrix.

2. A machine of the character described comprising a fixed matrix, suction means connected to said matrix and operable to hold a blank in fixed relation thereon, a cutter, means for moving said cutter toward and from said matrix to skive a blank positioned thereon, and means operable .by movement of said cutter toward said matrix for actuating said suction means to hold the blank on the matrix. 7

3. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, suction means connected to said matrix and operable to hold a blank in fixed relation thereon, a cutter relatively movable toward and from said matrix to skive a blank positioned thereon, means operable by movement of said cutter toward said matrix for actuating said suction means to hold the blank on the matrix, and means operable by movement of said cutter for releasing said suction to free the portions of said blank held on said matrix.

4. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, means for holding a blank on said matrix, movable positioning means for centering a blank on said matrix in association with said holding means, a cutter relatively movable toward and from said matrix to skive a. blank held thereon by said holding means, and means operable by movement of said cutter toward said matrix for moving said positioning means from the path of said cutter.

5. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, suction means for holding a blank on said matrix, movable positioning means for centering a blank on said matrix in association with said holding means, a cutter relatively movable toward and from said matrix to skive a blank held thereon by said holding means, and means operable by movement of said cutter toward said matrix for moving said positioning means from the path of said cutter.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, means for holding a blank in conformity with the surface of said matrix, movable positioning means for centering a blank on said matrix in association with said holding means, a cutter relatively movable toward and from said matrix to skive a blank held thereon by said holding means, means operable by movement of said cutter toward said matrix for actuating said holding means to hold the blank thereon, and means operable by movement of said cutter toward said matrix for moving said positioning means from the path of said cutter.

7. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, means for holding a blank on said matrix, a cutter, means for moving said cutter toward and from said matrix to skive a blank held thereon by said holding means, means controlled by movement of said cutter for actuating said holding means to hold the blank positioned on said matrix in conformity with the surface thereof during said skiving movements of the cutter.

8. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, a cutter, means for relatively moving said cutter toward and from said matrix to skive a blank held thereon, means for holding a blank on said matrix, movable positioning means normally in the path of said cutter for centering a blank to be skived in association with said holding means, and means operable upon movement of said cutter to withdraw said positioning means from said path of said cutter during said skiving movement thereof.

9. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, a cutter, suction means for holding a blank on said matrix, means for moving said cutter toward and from said matrix to skive a blank held thereon by said holding means, means controlled by movement of said cutter for actuating said holding means to hold the blank positioned on said matrix in conformity with the surface thereof during said skiving movements of the cutter.

10. A machine of the character described com- 11. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix having a plurality of articleforming cavities in spaced relation, movable positioning means for centering a blank on said matrix to cover said cavities, suction means communicating with each of said cavities and adapted to hold said blank in conformity with said cavities, a cutter movable toward and from said matrix to skive said blank to form skived pieces in said cavities, and means controlled by movement of said cutter to withdraw said positioning means from the path of said cutter during said skiving movement of the cutter.

12. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix having a plurality of articleforming cavities in spaced relation, movable posi- I tioning means for centering a blank on said matrix to cover said cavities, suction means connecting with each of said cavities and adapted to hold said blank in conformity with said cavities, a cutter movable toward and from said matrix to skive said blank to form skived pieces in said cavities, means controlled by movement of said cutter during said skiving movement of the cutter to withdraw said positioning means from the path of the cutter, and means controlled by movement of said cutter to actuate said suction means during said skiving movement of the cutter.

13. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, suction means connected to said matrix and operable to hold a blank positioned thereon, a cutter movable toward and from said matrix to skive the blank held thereon by said suction, and guide means movable toward and from said matrix with said cutter for removing the scrap cut from said blank away from said cutter.

14. A machine of the character described comprising a matrix, suction means connected to said matrix and operable to hold a blank positioned thereon, a cutter movable toward and from said matrix to skive the blank held thereon, and guide means movable toward and from said matrix with said cutter for removing the scrap cut from said blank away from said cutter, said guide means comprising an arcuate plate extending upwardly from the leading edge of said cutter, said plate having upwardly extending ribs in laterally spaced relation thereon.

JOSEPH F. REMINGTON. 

